Vending apparatus.



ive. 728,412.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Patented May' 19, 1903.

.11eme e. me,"

SPEGIFIGATIQN fefmivagj pere 'er Lettere Patent ive. 728,412, dated Mey 19, 1903: Y

-Applicationiiled Mareh1 4,1r902. Serial No. 98,233. (Allo-model.) i .l

To all whom it mag/concern..- Y

useful Improvements in Vending Apparatus; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to `be a full, clear, and exact description ofthefinvenl permitted upon the insertion1ofracin in alv` slot or guideway provided to receive it; Y

The invention has for itsobjecttheipr'oduc.-

tion of'aI machine ofthis.ch'aracter whichV while especiallydesigned for vending cigars may be employedv for vending. other goods or4A commodities in package formiorfotherwise and which embodies.simpleand-eicient fe'edw ing devices operative `upo`n thedepositof af coin to enable the4 deposit; or to operate the machine to cause the delivery of the goods.

For a full descriptionoflthe invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire 'aknowhedge of the details lof construction of the means for effecting they result referencefis tobe had to the following description anddrawings hereto attached; f

While the essential and characteristic fea-z tures of the invention are susceptibleof inodification,fstill kthe preferred embodimentof'the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inzwhich "e Figure 1 is a perspective view'of a ven-ding,v

apparatus embodying m'yinventiomi '2 is a vertical longitudinal. section of the same on the central line'ofoneofthe'sets of-'coin` controlled feeding devices. Figr isa Ivere; tical cross-section ofthe-saine online 3 =3 ofy Fig. 2. Fig. f1 is a horizontal section, onan enlarged scale, looking down Aupon one ofthe reciprocating feed-plates. fFi'g.y 5 is a vertical longitudinal section, 4on an "enlarged "scale, showing in full lines .the normal position of the feed devices andin bro'kenlines themanner in which thefeed-plate is actuated by the slide upon the deposit of accin. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of two `of the feed-plates and the parts cooperating therewith.

g n f 1 ,"Likejrefelrence1characte'rsfindicate corre- Be it known that I, JAMES J. REED, aci-till zen of the United States, residing'at NewPhirlLl adelphia, in the countyof.@Tuscarawasand; State of Ohio, have invented'certa'in'new and?.

spending vparts in'. the', following description Vand'lrawilng's @heretozattached VThe ca'singl ,ofthe'apparatus is' of 'suitable fforin and s ize: to inclose-etlie operative parts and. goods1 to..be ,vendedand-comprises a base a' h-ingedtop .ore secti on,. 3, provided at its 'rearwith'alchambenor compartment 4 to contain thegoods to'be ve'nded, and a door 5, ,giving accessto-'sa'idj chamber to enable the goods to be placed therein andthe empty boxes when the apparatus is-us'edgz for the vending goffcigars or othery boxedgoods to be conveniently removed. Asshoyv'vn inthe present instance, the' top section isehing'ed at one side, lso=that-ritemaybel turnedY upzand swung laterallyto 4expose theV interior. of the base 2, Vwhile'the door ishinged atits lower edge to zturn down. Suitablelocksorfastenings are 4to be employed in k.practicetoholdzthese parts closed to prevent ,unauthorized persons from gaining access to t'heinterior of -thejmachine In order to make clearthe operation :of the linvention, I-have shown thef' saniezas" used for fthe vending of cigars,"without,however, in-

tending to limitv the. invention'to thefven'ding of. goods of this Ycharacter; When iso'. used, the box or. boxes 6con'ta'iningithe cigars, are placed in the chamber 4,'and each ilooxy is formed in its bottomwith a ldisch.arge-apert'ure 6' to allow the cigars to feed out, and .the said chamber 4'-isprovided atv topffwitha 'transparent panel V'7 to enable' the .boxes,..with their contents, .to be viewed. The'c'a'se leis vconstructedztoprovide at the fronty ax'leceprvtacle 8, in.wlhichthe cigars are delivered,- and jthebott'om of this receptacleis-extended back on an upward` incline to form a chute 9, down ,which the.4 cigars --when deposited thereon travel by gravity to said receptacle. :the receptacleS a till: or shallow tray 10 is {providedto receive the deposited coin, which ,mayberelnoved upon lifting the section 3. Therear portion of the section is closedat bottomby a wall 11, above the real" portion of which is arranged atransverse shelf 12, whilethe front portionof said sectionis'open at bottom for the feed ofvthe `cigars to thel chute 9 and coin to the tra`y10. vThe'boxes 6 rest upon the shelf 12 and ledges 13, arranged between said shelf and front wall of the compartment 4,'with their discharge-apertures 6 located above the space between the ledges.

Above Ico Any desired number of boxes containing different brands or grades of cigars may be placed in the compartment 4, and the sets of vending devices will correspond in number therewith and will be constructed to operate when required upon the deposit of coins of different denominations. In the present iustance I have shown the apparatus provided with three sets of vending devices; but as the construction is the same in each case a description of one will suffice for all.

The opening 6' in the bottom of each box 6 is normally closed by a feed plate or board 14, which slides between suitable side guides 15 andbetween the wal111 and shelf 12. The rear portion of this plate closes the opening 6, and at or about its center said plate has a transverse slot or feed-passage 16, which when the plate is moved rearwardly to its fullest extent registers with said aperture 6', allowing one or more cigars to drop down onto the chute 9. It will of course be understood that the size of this slot 16 willdetermine the number of cigars which are to be delivered in exchange for a coin of a certain denomination. The front portion of the plate is formed with a longitudinal slot or guideway 17, which communicates a short distance in rear of its forward end with a transverse slot 18. A pin 19 projects downward into the guideway 17 and is carried by a superposed slide 20. This slide 20 moves between suitable guides 21 and is attached to a knob or handpiece 22 by a stem or shank23, fitted to slide in a slot 24, formed in the top wall of the front portion of the section 3. The knob or handpiece is thus located on the exterior and constitutes a means whereby the slide and feed-plate may be operated upon the deposit of acoin. The coin is deposited in a slot 25, located adjacent to the lower end of the slot 24 and immediately above the cross-slot 18 in the feed-plate 14 when said plate is in its normal position.

The operation is as follows: The pin' 19 normally slides freely in the slot 17, so that the feed-plate will not be affected by the movement of the slide 2O until a coin is deposited in the slot 25. The coin inserted through the slot 25 drops by gravity into the cross-slot 18 of the feed-plate and is held in place by the bottom wall 26, which forms a support therefor. As the slot 18is of a length approximating the diameter of the coin, the latter will lie infront of the pin 19 and bridge the slot 17, so that when the slide 2O is moved rearwardly through the medium of the knob 22 the pin will contact with the coin, which l will form a connection to cause the feed-plate to move with the knob. The rearward movement of the slide thus brings the feed-opening 16 below the feed-aperture 6 in the box 6, allowing one or more cigars to drop into said feed-opening 16 and rest on the wall 11, and at this time the shank 23 will contact with the upper wall of the slot 24, thereby removing the pressure of the pin 19 from the coin, allowing the latter to dropdown into the tray 10. There being now no connection between the slide and feed-plate, the latter, which slides, as shown, in an inclined path, returns to its normal position by gravity, and when the feed-opening 16 clears the forward edge of the wall 11 the cigar drops through and down onto the chute 9, whence it rolls by gravity to the delivery-receptacle 8. The lower edge of the coin when held by the pin 19 during the movement of the feed-plate travels in a groove 27 in the bottom wall or support 26, and the bottom wall of this groove is formed with ratchet-teeth 28, inclining inwardly and upwardly, so as to prevent the feed-plate from returning to its normal position before the coin has been released. The wall 26 has a slot 29 below the slots 18 and 25 to allow slugs, tokens, and coins of a smaller diameter than thosesaid slots are formed to receive to pass out of the machine and drop into the receptacle 8, so as to defeat any attempt which may be made to operate the machine and obtain goods by the use of any but the proper coin.

From the foregoing description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction, mode of operation, and advantages of the invention will be readily understood, and it will be seen that an exceedingly efficient construction of vending-machine is provided.

Changes in the form,proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to within the scope of the invention without de parting from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- A vending-machine comprising a goodscompartment, a forwardly and downwardly inclined support arranged beneath the goodscompartment and extended in front thereof and having a delivery-opening for the goods and coin and having a series of notches for coperation with the coin to prevent backward movement of the slide, a feed-plate slidably mounted upon the support and mov- IOO IIO

able beneath the goods-compartment and i having a delivery-opening, a coin-slot and a longitudinal slot, an operating-slide movable over the feed-plate and having a coin-opening to register with the coin-slot of the feed-plate, the slide and feed-p1ate being returnable 'to a normal position by means of gravity, a pin pendent from the slide and extended into the longitudinal slot of the feed-plate,a coin-tray arranged beneath the front portion of the support, and a chute arranged beneath the coin-tray and extended in the front and in the rear thereof, substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof'I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES J. REED. [n Witnesses:

W. A. WAGNER, A. H. ELLIOTT. 

